PROS

• A great performance and a professional effort for this European 3-year-old who made his graded stakes debut a winning one. Gitano Hernando is undefeated on synthetic surfaces and beat a quality field here.

CONS

• It is hard to criticize his effort here. His performance was very solid, although Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird might have needed the race off a ten week layoff.

BOTTOM LINE

• This result really underscores how powerful the Euros will be in the Classic again this year. Gitano Hernando, up until this race, would not even have been talked about in the same sentence as some of the major European contenders like Rip Van Winkle. His Breeders’ Cup participation might also seem unlikely as he is not Breeders’ Cup nominated. For a lightly raced horse to rebound off such a big effort after flying over from Europe and repeat this performance in four weeks screams “bounce” to me.